Mexican ensemble Villalobos Brothers performs at ECC Arts Center Oct. 7
Leading contemporary Mexican music ensemble Villalobos Brothers will perform at the ECC Arts Center on Saturday, Oct. 7. The performance will begin at 7 p.m. in the Blizzard Theatre, Building H on ECC's campus at 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin.
Villalobos Brothers original compositions and arrangements celebrate the richness of Mexican folk music while blending it with the intricate harmonies of jazz and classical music.
The band's sound is anchored by its namesake brothers' signature violins and voices.
Ernesto, Alberto, and Luis Villalobos were born and raised in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. They spent their childhood listening to their grandmother Cristina Vásquez sing and play guitar or accordion after a day's work. They took up the violin as children and soon learned to sing and play other instruments as well. The band also features artistic director Humberto Flores on guitar, Rosa Ávila on drums, and Leo Sherman on bass.
In 2013, Villalobos Brothers shared the stage with Regina Spector, Pet Shop Boys, and Los Tigres del Norte at Cumbre Tajin, one of the most important music festivals in Latin America. Later that year, the band won National Public Radio's "2013 Battle of the Boroughs." Villalobos Brothers was the first Mexican band ever to play at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem as featured guest artists.
Villalobos Brothers has also played at the Latin Grammy® Awards, Carnegie Hall, the Guggenheim Museum, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations, Rockefeller Center, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The band has collaborated with legendary musicians including Grammy® winners Arturo O'Farrill, Antonio Sánchez, Eduardo Magallanes, Dan Zanes, and many others.
Tickets to the Villalobos Brothers are $9 to $25. Tickets at the ECC Arts Center are available online at tickets.elgin.edu or at the ECC Arts Center box office. Box office hours are noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday. To purchase tickets by phone, call (847) 622-0300. All major credit cards are accepted.
The performance of the Villalobos Brothers is supported by the Arts Midwest Touring Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from the Illinois Arts Council and the Crane Group. The ECC Arts Center can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/eccartscenter and on Twitter @ECCArtsCenter.